Please correct the errors below.

Onsemiro Restaurant Review

KLCC RESTAURANTS & DINING

0

Onsemiro is a fine dining Korean restaurant set in Intermark Mall on Jalan Tun Razak that makes clever use of Korean aesthetics to create an engaging dining experience. Freshness, high quality ingredients and orderly plate presentations are part and parcel of the Onsemiro dining experience.

Onsemiro restaurant’s kitchen is headed by Chef Yang Tae Yong, who has close to 40 years of experience under his belt working in some pretty exclusive restaurants back in Korea. Able to accommodate up to 145 people, you can enjoy meals at wooden tables and benches in the main dining area or in one of its 11 private rooms. Reminiscent of other modern, fine dining restaurants these days, there is a unique glass-enclosed barbecue station where you can watch cooks in action as they prepare your food.

Décor & Ambiance

The decorative approach eschews the blond-wood look that characterises Asian dining outlets, with all the essential interior features of pine, slate and bamboo that blend together beautifully to create a natural ambiance that vaguely reminds one of Korea. The restaurants 11 private rooms come in different sizes and feature distinctively different décor, from cherry-blossom wallpaper in one room to chrome and steel finishing in another.

A culinary beacon in a part of KL that is sadly underrepresented, the service at Onsemiro restaurant is especially friendly, with servers who are eager to please. Everything is executed with solid professionalism and most interesting is the level of interaction from the helpful serving staff.

The Menu of Onsemiro

Offering a changing, ever-accommodating menu, food at Onsemiro restaurant is prepared pretty much how it is done in Korea. The fact that sets Onsemiro restaurant apart from other Korean restaurants in the country is that most ingredients are air flown several times a week from Korea, making the freshness as impressive as the variety of its menu.

A pioneer in avant-garde Korean cuisine, Onsemiro was opened in January 2012 and has started out with a focus on classic dishes. Among the best of these is the kimchi which is prepared daily: as long as you go in expecting some pretty innovative tweaking, you will realise that this dish is none the worse for it.

First & Second Courses

We start off our meal with gwangyang bulgogi (seasoned barbecue beef): succulent and juicy, these strips of beef are best eaten wrapped in a juicy lettuce leaf and topped with Chef Yang’s special sauce, made with over 40 ingredients! The charcoal used (oak tree charcoal imported directly from Korea) plays an important part in creating the distinctive taste of the grilled meat.

Next up, we try oyster seafood pajenon (Korean style oyster seafood pancake): a mixture of eggs and flour combine to create this oyster omelette, pan fried to golden perfection and filled with all kinds of seafood including oyster, squid and prawn and sprinkled with green spring onions.

Third & Fourth Course

The next course is dongtae jeon gol (fresh Pollack stew), an absolutely mind-blowing, spicy soup-based dish. The fish is air flown the North Okhotsk Sea and cooked with white radish, sliced pumpkin, red pepper and water parsley combined with Onsemiro’s special seasoning.

Finally we wrap up our meal with Onsemiro’s signature bibim naeng myun: these springy and flavourful homemade cold noodles are served with a spicy sauce prepared by Chef Yang served with slices of cucumber, white radish, Korean pear and hardboiled egg. Those who are not fans of spicy fare can have their buckwheat noodles in a pungent, aromatic clear broth.

Extras

Throughout our meal the eager-to-please Chef Yang sends out a variety of other dishes for us to sample including dried grilled Pollack fish, crabs and a variety of vegetables. The most noteworthy, truly unexpected dish is Korean-style spicy chicken barbecue, a simple dish that has us fighting over the last piece.

Dessert & Drinks

One of the restaurant’s signature dishes was iced persimmon, a sorbet-type dessert brimming with flavour and containing no artificial preservatives. At first bite flavours are balanced, the dish is perceptibly not too sweet and it is the perfect conclusion to our meal.

The restaurant’s wine list is extensive and includes a range of red and white labels ranging in price from RM60 – RM250. The best part of the artsy and comprehensive menu is that food items are logically arranged and at the bottom of each page are helpful sommelier recommendations for wines that go best with those dishes.

The Intermark Mall plays host to Double Tree by Hilton hotel, which means the area sees a fair amount of international visitors but Onsemiro restaurant has gained such popularity in the local food scene that it has become a favourite restaurant with KL’s corporate crowd.

A lively, bustling atmosphere pervades the eatery and though freshness and high quality of ingredients are of outmost importance, food served is a veritable feast at a commensurate price and pork free.

Download our free travel guide

Get access to our free travel guides of the best things to do, see and visit, the best restaurants, shops and places to go at night too! All the important basics such weather and travel tips for your first trip are in there.

Print it out to carry around, save it on your phone or use it when you arrive. Just enter your details to get your free PDF Travel Guide and also add you to our free Asia Web Direct Travel Club Newsletter.